


unravel

by janteu



Category: Death Note
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-08
Updated: 2015-12-08
Packaged: 2018-05-05 13:53:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5377649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janteu/pseuds/janteu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>L is lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	unravel

L believes that there are no mysteries that cannot be solved.

He sees webs of string before his eyes, stretching and tying details together one by one. The strings bring his clues together, pulls them apart, and fits them back together again like pieces of a puzzle. His mysteries are bound to each other, the world, and himself in a never-ending strand. That way, he is never lost; the strings tie him down and bring him home. There is nothing that his brain cannot comprehend.

And yet, comprehension is a mystery. L finds himself, more often than not, puzzled by man’s need to know things, which is (to him, at least) rather interesting because what he’s trying to understand is understanding itself. And really, at this point, it’s no wonder that he feels so lonely because all his mind does is fold in on itself over and over until his thoughts themselves are inexplicable.

The loneliness, in a sense, is unbearable at times. He wishes for excitement; for a challenge. For someone that intrigues him. Humans, he has decided long ago, are nothing more than bloodthirsty animals that lust for power. They do not think, as he does, before lashing out and creating tracks for him to follow and a game for him to play. Because of this, he is certain that not one guilty man he has encountered was truly convinced of his own righteousness.

When he first begins solving the Kira case, what L expects is a childish adult – someone smart enough to trick his or her way into the system but not smart enough to find a way out. In part, he is correct. But Yagami Raito is far more intelligent than he imagined; still a psychotic mass-murderer, of course, but brilliant all the same. He is utterly fascinating.

From the start, L knows. He cannot deny that doesn’t want to believe it, nor can he ignore the ache of his strings being constantly stretched until they are taut and untouchable. Raito is no fool, but even he can feel it – the underlying sense of his own transparency. But time passes, moves are made, and Raito’s guard begins to fall. He fools himself into thinking that he has deceived L; each step increasingly calculating as he continues with his plans. L is lost.

Not in the way Raito has hoped, however, because the more he plans, the easier it is for L to decipher his next move. He is certain that he has the ability to bring Kira down without breaking a sweat, but for some unfathomable reason, he cannot force himself to do so. All he can do is watch as Raito’s brilliance plays out, feeling his strings twist and snap and tie into knots, every clue deteriorating and leaving him broken inside.

But he knows, and that’s the worst part, because knowing isn’t enough anymore. He wants to understand Kira. Arrogance has twisted him; convinced him that not a single individual could perplex him as much as Raito does. He is drawn to the mystery that is Yagami Raito; the one mystery he will never be able to solve.

So it ends this way, with L’s fascination leading to his downfall, and the wicked eyes of Yagami Raito boring into his as he draws his last breath. 

The tangled mess that makes up the strings within his mind unravels; each knot and twist coming undone. It is liberating, beautiful. 

The strings don't catch him when he falls.


End file.
